Shed Not A Tear
by BunniesAndBooks
Summary: Mariana is the mayor's youngest daughter in District 4, and she is reaped for the games during it's fourth year. This is seen and told from her perspective. Rating will change later.
1. Reaping Day

**So I found this old story I wrote years ago, and I just touched it up on some parts, too lazy to fix it properly like I probably should've... Anyway, I decided to start putting it up here; gonna post some chapters now, and then we'll see when I'll put up the rest. This story is definately finished though, so you won't have to worry about it being abandoned or anything. :)**

**Okay, so there's obviously going to be some character death... It's HG, couldn't really escape that could we?**

* * *

><p>I wake up, panting deeply from one of my usual nightmares that frequently come this time of year. I usually dream about being reaped and then sent to one of those stupid arenas, being chased by someone who wants to kill me, mutants or what-not.<p>

It has been four years since all of this madness began, and soon it's time for another round. I wonder who it'll be that will go over there this year and slaughter so many innocent children. I seriously doubt it will be me; because first of all I only have my 6 votes in there, and second of all there ought to be some volunteers as it's always been so far.

I can't say I blame them for it either; so many of us were left bare after the uprising, and these 'games' are pretty much a godsend for some people. Killing a few people to get to that point where you don't have to worry on a day-to-day basis doesn't really seem to bother the chosen ones at all.

It would however bother me. Though luckily my family isn't in such a dire need of money and food as most of the one's living in this district. I don't need to offer myself to the Capital's whims to stay alive – not yet anyway.

I get up, since falling asleep at this point is impossible, my mind is all too worked up with it being reaping day and everything. I look at the clock, 5.30. Hmph, my usual good luck, what am I supposed to do for several hours until the rest of my family wakes up? I think about my brother and my sisters; thank god none of them actually got chosen during that time that they actually could. My youngest brother Aros is twenty now, and my identical twin sisters are both 21, so they only had to deal with this one or two times. I'm seventeen now, so next year will be my last in the reaping process thank god.

I walk outside, the sun has nearly started to rise above the ocean, and it really is a beautiful sight. It's quite chilly outside even though it's in the middle of May, but I don't have the energy to go in again to fetch a jacket. I start to walk down our pathway, down to the street and then over to the beach. I sit down on one of the rocks there and just watch out at the mesmerizing sight. This is a place seemingly made especially for me, as I'm usually found somewhere near to this place; swimming around in the water, fishing or just plainly hiding around these parts somewhere, thinking.

I watch the sun as it travels up on the sky, and I can see how it makes the ocean glisten where the light hits it. I see how wave after wave hits the shore and darkens the sand that is hit. I watch everything the nature does as I think about nothing and everything.

I think about Riley, one of my sisters, and her upcoming marriage to the principal's only son Simon. They had met while the war was still going on – a long time prior to the games introduction – when she was just fourteen. He was two years older and had just joined the army; he never left however but got stationed right here back home, so their love succeeded to grow – and now, seven years later, they got engaged. I thinks she's really lucky to have been able to find someone, as all the boys I know are pretty childish and not worth falling for, but as friends they are great 'cause they make me laugh a lot.

I wonder when my other sister Ivy will find someone. I mean, she has quite a collection of boyfriends in her history, but she never really fell for any of them. And Aros doesn't seem to care about that so much, I guess he looks at the girls, but he doesn't try to get to know them. I hope he will soon though; I don't want to see him walk through life alone.

Suddenly something hurts on both of my sides as someone screams: "POKE!" and I immediately knows who it is that poked me. It's Jade, my best friend, the goofball. She is the apothecary, Mr. Oaks, oldest daughter and I've known her since I was born. Our mothers were friends and it was just natural for us to become friends too. We grew up side by side and became even better friends as the time went on. I give her an evil grin before I smile at her.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early Jade? Couldn't sleep either?" I ask.

"Naw, you know how it is these days." And I get exactly what she's talking about. Usually the beach would be filled at this hour with people on their way to work or out searching for food, but considering it's a reaping day most people stay at home and spend as much time with their family as possible. And even though nobody has to go to work - apart from those few that are so poor that they really need to - most people actually still get up around now, just to make sure to enjoy their loved ones presence those few spare hours before the reaping at eleven. One can never know who will get picked.

"Yeah, I know," I answer a bit solemnly. "I hope I won't get picked."

"Me neither, but one of those Hail girls will probably volunteer anyway."

Oh yeah, I think, the Hail girls. Raven and Becca Hail are younger than me – sisters and have tried to volunteer every year these games have been going on, always pushed aside by girls of stronger and greater build. Everyone knows that they have been training for them since they found out about the games, and they have gotten really good when it comes to weapons and such. They're utterly lethal, and, oh yeah, not to forget, they hate me.

I don't really know why actually, I think it's because of my attitude towards the game or something, but I don't know. They really didn't like me prior to the games either, so it might be for the mere reason that I'm considered rich and they're not, but then again, they both are rather messed up. They're biggest wish seems to be to win this game and I so don't understand how that can be their only wish, not considering they are obviously doing this for the fame, not the money.

"Yeah, but you'll never know."

She sighs and says: "I guess not."

Jade is like me when it comes to these games, she doesn't approve of them either, and like me she resents the idea with the game. To take 24 _kids_, put them in an arena and make them fight to the death. We don't talk about it though, if the wrong people heard us we could get seriously punished, maybe even executed.

Then we just sit there, both dead silent and just watch the sun rise higher and higher, until the time is running so late we'll both be having a stressful time getting ready for the reaping. I tell her bye, hug her hard and then run straight home.

* * *

><p>Well back home I get in to find mother by the dinner table, apparently waiting for me, but before I even get to ask her what's for breakfast she's sending me to my room with just two words: "Get dressed." And although she sound rather harsh I see that she's close to tearing up, so I quickly walk up to her and kiss her on her cheek before I go to my room.<p>

I switch into a white summer dress, although I hate it, because it's the _proper_ thing to wear on a day like this. I swiftly brush my blonde hair and tie it up so I get a ponytail. In my room I actually have a mirror (it was an inheritance from my great grandmother; she died about eleven years ago, and although I didn't really know her, I liked her very much, the parts about her I could remember anyway) and when I look into it I see these grey eyes staring back at me. Most of the people here in District 4 have blue eyes, but my entire family and a few other have grey eyes so we stand out quite a bit. But then again, being from the upper class of this district makes us stand out quite a bit too.

My dad is the mayor of this district, and that means I haven't had to work a day in my life. Due to this, none of my siblings had many friends, but I do. Maybe it's because I'm the youngest or something, I don't really know, or care as a matter of fact why it is so, but I'm enjoying it never the less. The only thing that is hard with having many friends is that I have known most people that were picked for the games. Two years ago it was my neighbor's oldest boy Travis that got picked, and I cried for hours, because I knew that he would die, and I was right. He died at only fourteen being stabbed in the back by a boy from District 1.

Oh gosh, I have to stop thinking about this, it will only get me all worked up and I can't afford that right now. I must be strong so my mother won't cry again. She has always hated watching these reaping's; she's so afraid one of us would get picked, but we never are.

I walk down again and sit down beside my brother Aros and one of the twins, Ivy. We're not talking at all as we eat our breakfast, the tension around us so high one could touch it. We are all really nervous about today.

After an unpleasant and long meal we all go down to the Justice hall were the reaping is held. We all scatter away in different directions; my dad goes into the building were he's supposed to greet the people from the Capitol, my mom and my brother goes off to some of our neighbors and my sisters walk away to some friends. I'm left completely alone, but not for long. Jade walks up beside me and we go together to get signed in.

* * *

><p>I find myself in the girl's folly, next to Jade and some others of my friends. I look around and search for familiar faces, and I find all too many, anyone of these could get picked, and I can't help but wonder who it'll be.<p>

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of my father, welcoming us to the fourth annual hunger games. He talks about the treason and the foundation of the games, all of it said in a monotone and boring voice as it is the only way he can show his hatred and disgust for what he is forced to do, before he welcomes up this creature in green, Miss Havanna Glissen from the Capitol. She has been holding these reaping's all three years prior to this, and apparently she's here again.

"Welcome everybody," she says in her capitol dialect that otherwise would be so funny to listen to, but that right now just give me the creeps. She continues: "May the odds be ever in your favor. It is once again time for us to choose our young man and woman who will have the great honor to represent District 4 in the fourth annual hunger games!"

As she walks up to one of the two glass container's on stage, holding all of the girl's names, I wish it won't be any of my nearest friends she will call up.

And it isn't. It's me.

"Mariana Field!"


	2. Goodbyes

I am being tightly hugged by my friends when she calls my name again, but then I break free from their embrace, determined to not show any signs of weakness, and start walking up towards the stage. On my way I see my mother's eyes bursting with tears and it almost makes me start crying myself, but I hold on and walk up the stairs straight to Havanna. She takes my hand and shakes it before asking the crowd for any volunteers, and to my immense surprise nobody is volunteering. I search for the Hail sisters, and when I at last find their faces in the crowd they look straight into my eyes and grins, just grins. They really hate me, they hate me enough to not volunteer. The one thing they want more than anything. They just gave that up so they could show me how much they hate me.

As the seconds drag by and nobody seems keen to respond Havanna on her question she finally continues and goes on to the boy's container and pick out a note. She reads out: "Eric Dodge."

All I manage to think is oh no cause he is one of my best friends, but then somebody shouts: "I volunteer!"

After some struggling I find the face of the boy saying this and although I recognize it, seeing as I've seen him around all the time, I don't remember his name. All I know is that he is one of the few guys who have been training for this the last four years.

When the boy has gotten up on the stage and on to Havanna she asks him so sweetly: "And what's your name young man?"

"Typher Jones." Oh yeah! That's it, it's so weird I didn't remember that. He's only one year older than me and I've seen him train with the other boy's lots of times.

"Well congratulations Typher! And congratulations Mariana!" She turns to the audience, "The tributes of District 4, and remember, may the odds be ever in your favor!"

* * *

><p>Just a few minutes later I'm alone in one of the rooms in the Justice hall, I've been here before, but never because of this particular reason. I sit down by one of the windows heading straight towards the ocean, and I look out, wondering if I will ever see this place again. Considering I would never ever kill anybody I suppose not, something miraculous must happen if I would win and get back. The tears creep behind my eyes but I force them back, I know my mother will be in here in a term of seconds and I can't cry in front of her, she would collapse from sorrow and guilt. So I get a grip of myself and get up from my chair and turn my back on the glorious sight, and probably also of any chance of ever getting back.<p>

As I predicted my mother, closely followed by the rest of my family, soon comes in, and they all hug me times and times again, telling me to do everything I can to win, to get back. They all beg me to come back, and I tell them I will try, but I withhold the fact that I refuse to kill anybody.

The time is up all too fast, and they have to leave, I give mother one last hug before she's taken away by the peace keepers, and then I wait again. Soon Jade comes in, alone, and she starts speaking right away:

"Listen to me, you have to do what you can to win this, but at the same time I hope you won't kill." Jade is like me, she also hates these games, all of the killing. She hopes that all of the people from the Capitol will get bored with the idea in a short spam of years so that this murderous campaign will stop, but we both know deep down that that won't happen. She continues:

"You know how to fish, and you know so many plants that you can eat. Make sure to eat and drink a lot while you're there. And make sure not to team up with anyone from 1 or 2, they will kill you while you sleep; you're safer on your own. Ok?"

"Ok." I answer with a really tormented voice, and I start to cry right there and then. We hug each other till the peace keepers come in and take her away. Some of my other friends come in and talk to me, hug me, but I don't really notice who it is or what they are saying.

When the hour is up the peace keepers take me out of the building and transport me to a huge car that will take me to the train station. Typher and Havanna are already in the car waiting for me, so we start driving immediately after I get in. The road between the Justice hall and the train station is really short, but because of all of the people on the streets, it still takes some time to get there. I wave goodbye to everybody I see outside, and most of them wave back. At one point I saw one of the Hail sisters and I almost went berserk wanting to rip the girl to shreds for doing this to me, but I contained myself when I realized that it wouldn't be any point trying to get to them, that I would only be fetched and that my crazy actions actually may just work against me later in these games.

As we get on the train I almost get a chock looking at all of the stuff in there. As the mayors daughter I am quite used to some glamor and stile, but this is just crazy. The entire cart we're in is filled with blue sateen chairs and couches, crystal chandeliers and other various things in crystal. Though all of this is admittedly quite beautiful it still feels so strange; I really shouldn't be here. This isn't where I belong.

Havanna shows us to our rooms, and happily I find that it's a bit more similar to my own room than that cart earlier. I have a huge bed though, big enough for my entire family actually, and it's a bit weird knowing I'm sleeping in there alone. As for the rest of the room it is just a big wardrobe filled with all different kinds of clothes and shoes, a little desk where I can write letters and such, a huge TV-screen and a door to my bathroom – which is crazy in itself.

Although I see that the shower is rather complex with its many different buttons, I decide to get washed anyway. I carefully press one of the buttons that look rather harmless compared to the others, and a warm stream of water comes down on me. Since this is just what I wanted I memorize exactly were the button was so I could do this again later on.

After a long, nice, warm shower I get out, dry my hair and wrap my towel around me before starting to explore my wardrobe in search for acceptable clothes. I stop searching after I find a light blue shirt and a pair of simple jeans.

Considering there isn't really anything to do in my room I decide to go away to that cart we came in to first and sit down there, hoping for company. My luck struck out, as both Havanna and Typher are sitting there, face to face in two of the sateen chairs. I walk over to them and sit down; they are talking about the games.

"Well, since nobody has won yet from District 4," Havanna says, "there is nobody but me to guide you through this, so you must pay attention. Okay?"

"That's okay, and I guess that it's the same for most districts, considering it's only been winners so far from 1 and 2." Typher concludes.

"Right. Well, make sure to eat a lot during these few days first of all, you'll need all the strength you can get in the arena, and make sure to pay attention during training when were in the Capitol. Oh! And you must be doing exactly anything your stylist tells you to do, they can either make or break you, so make sure you have them on your side!"

I get a flashback of last year's competition when the tributes from our districts had nothing on them but some fish nets during the parade, covering only the bare minimum of their bodies, I really hope they have something more… well, _clothes_ for us this year.

Havanna leaves us in an attempt to find out if dinner's been served yet, so I find myself alone with Typher. I look over at him. He's quite muscular, a clear result of four intensive years of training, and realize there would be no chance for me to ever beat him – even if I would actually try to kill him. I continue looking; he has a nice face – you couldn't believe a future killer was hiding beneath that face. He has these big dimples that makes you just know that he smiles often, and well, he sort of looks so innocent. I guess it is kind of a good cover, not many would count him to be a big threat, well, at least if he didn't have all those muscles anyway…

Then he suddenly looks straight into my eyes before a huge smile spreads across his face, and I quickly look down on the floor as I feel my cheeks turn red from embarrassment. Oh gosh, I think, how could I ever stare at someone like that and then just go like a tomato? I know better than that, don't I? Mother taught us never to stare, and it's just what I've done now… I feel like I want to slip beneath the surface of the earth.

"It's Mariana right?" he asks, and I can hear that he has a huge smile across his face.

"Yeah…" I whisper and find that I sound very timid, very unlike my usual self. I don't sound like that calm girl at home that makes friends with everyone in a heartbeat.

"I'm Typher." I still don't dare to look up when I answer him:

"I know, I've seen you at your practices."

Then he just laughs at me, oh god, this is so horrible, he probably thinks I'm an idiot or something.

"Why don't you look up at me so I can see you when I'm talking to you? It's a lot easier."

He's still smiling when I look at him. I begin to wonder what his tactic is. Is he going to make me trust him just to desert me when we get to the arena or is he actually trying to become my friend? I don't know but I decide not to trust him or anything he's saying, at least not for now, at least not until I've gotten to know him and know about his true intentions towards me.

"There, it wasn't so hard, was it?" And then another one of his huge smiles, and those blue eyes of him really just seem happy, doesn't seem to be hiding anything, and I just have to smile back at him.

"No, I guess not." Then we just begin talking about anything and everything, apart from our imminent future and anything related to it.

It isn't until we finally get up to go to dinner that I realize exactly how huge he is, or at least compared to me. I'm a little bit over five feet two myself but he's towering over me, at the very least a feet taller than my own small build. Then add huge muscles on top of that… Just as I start to feel pathetic here next to him he smiles at me and I snap out of my thoughts. I think I could become friends with him; or, that is if we were still back home and not on our way to our own execution. Now it just seems like one more thing I will be forced to say farewell to.


	3. Bad Decisions

Dinner is just… unbelievable. There's so much to choose from; different types of soup, meat, huge trays filled with bread, and there's like fifteen types of beverages. All of it making my mind just go wow. I look up at Typher and find that he's thinking likewise. Then he looks at me and fires away one of those breathtaking smiles of his and walks towards all of the goodness. I follow him and try to choose what to eat. Everything both looks and smells so delicious so it's really hard to choose. I end up choosing this casserole filled with beef and various vegetables and it really tastes like heaven, and when I finish my first plate I fill it up both one and two times.

I may be the mayors daughter, but not even my family is this privileged when it comes to food. The abundance of it that I find here is astonishing. The food located just on this table could feed pretty much everyone living on my street back home, but this is meant just for the three of us; only for myself, Typher and Havanna. I wonder what will happen to the food we leave behind.

When I have almost finished my third plate of casserole I begin feeling sick, but I still eat up everything, which I admit was such a dumb move on my behalf. I feel like I could seriously burst any second and I just want to go to bed and lie down, and I do just so. There isn't much to do really on this train. Typher too heads for his room, looking just a tad green as he wobbles his way down the hall.

Well in my room I decide to watch the re-runs of the reaping's, as it might actually be a good idea to know what the competition will turn out to be.

In the years so far both District 1 and 2 have sent big, buff guys and ferocious girls whose looks just might kill you, and they don't disappoint us this year either. Jewel and Jasper from 1 and Elektra and Grim from 2. I don't get how the people from 1 name their kids. Jewel? As far as I know that's a stone…

I don't really remember that many of the tributes afterward, and definitely not any other names apart from the ones from 1 and 2, and that's only because they're so stupid. I just keep thinking about how I could manage to stay alive through this competition…

* * *

><p>Somehow I managed to fall asleep last night after that eating frenzy of mine, I wonder a bit how Typher feels because he ate more than me and ought to feel just as bad as me if not worse. Well, however he's feeling he'll have to wait because I just want a shower; I feel so gross after last night and want to wash up.<p>

I find him later at the breakfast table and I just brush out:

"How can you still eat after last night?!" He just looks up at me and laugh, apparently he hasn't felt that bad at all, and it's only me who has been awfully ill. I go over to the food trays and just take a can of water and a glass and go to sit down on the opposite side of Typher.

"I take it you ate all too much last night," and as usual it is said with a huge grin. I just respond to him with a simple:

"Yeah."

"Then take it easier today, we'll soon reach the Capitol and I guess you don't want to hurl over all of the people there."

"No. Thanks."

"You're welcome." And then we spend the rest of the meal in silence.


	4. Tribute Parade

For the last two hours I've been getting a full body wax and so many oils and crèmes rubbed into my body I begin to wonder if my skin just will be flaking off in a minute or two. I'm lying on a small bed-like thing in a room deep under the city, just waiting for my stylist to come. I try imagining how he or she will look like, because of what I've seen so far, Havanna is just as normal as any of us from 4. Here I've seen people with blue, purple and orange skin, I've seen them wear spandex clothes, fur, leather, and I don't know what the hell that was one of the girls in the crowd had on… I just hope my stylist won't be all too crazy looking.

After a while a woman comes in; she has long, white hair but she doesn't seem to be older than twenty-five so I guess it's been died, but other than that she actually looks rather normal.

"Hi," she says. "I'm Ember, and I'm your stylist."

"Hi."

"So I guess you're wondering what I'm going to make you wear tonight at the tribute parade?" As I begin to answer she continues:

"Well, of course you are, so just let's get the dress out." I sigh out loudly, relieved at the word dress, as it means I won't be wearing fish nets today. I watch her as she takes out a slim dress that glistens in the light. It seems to consists of scales, like a fish, and when these scales hit the light, they sparkle. I would guess that the dress is blue, but I'm not all that sure, since every time I try to watch one specific scale it will find the light and begin to shimmer. We try it on me and find that it fits perfectly, it really shows of how thin I am, but it also gives me some curves. I'm quite fond of the dress, even though it is filled to the brim with scales just like a fish.

With that I'm supposed to wear some huge stiletto shoes, but when she sees how horrible I'm at walking in them, she gives me a pair of flat shoes instead and I feel a whole lot safer on my feet instantly. Ember puts up my hair and does my make-up, and soon I don't look like myself anymore. I look, in lack of other terms, dangerous, and how she managed to do that with this dress I'll never know.

We go out to the hall where our chariots are, and as I see Typher next to our chariot, stroking our two black horses across their manes, and I instantly start walking towards him. He is wearing a suit, covered in the same scales as me, and I know we'll look at least somewhat good together. As I get next to him I say:

"Hi."

"Hi, I see you too are looking like a fish."

I giggle and respond: "Yeah, but it sure beats those fishnets the kids wore last year; that just looked wrong."

He laughs: "Oh yeah, poor kids."

The music starts around us and we quickly walk around our chariot and step up. Ember walks up to us and tell us not to smile, we are supposed to look dangerous, intimidate the others. I begin to wonder how they figured out this strategy, because Typher really doesn't look dangerous even if he tries to, not with that teddy bear aura of his, but I go along with it instead of opposing it.

In front of us a door opens and the horses pulling District 1 start walking towards it, then 2 and 3. When our horses starts walking I instinctively grab Typher's hand, as I almost fall over right from the beginning, but when I've regained my balance and begin to loosen my grip he takes a harder grasp and whisper to me:

"Just hold on, you might fall over again." And then he fires a small smile at me before concentrating on looking dangerous. I decide to hold on, because he might be right; I could lose my balance again, and it wouldn't really be surprising actually to tell the truth.

I too start to concentrate on looking as dangerous as I can, which usually wouldn't scare anybody, but with this make-up I look ferocious.

I'm rather proud of myself for not losing my balance again when our horses stop after our ten minutes long trip down the lane before stopping under the president's seat. He stands up, goes to the microphone in front of him and welcomes us to the Capitol and hopes we will have some rewarding days here. We're then pulled away by the horses and as soon as they stop in the hall again I jump off our chariot. Although I quite like horses, I won't be riding one of these things again. Not that I'm likely to live long enough to be given the opportunity anyway.

* * *

><p>When we're all back at our suite at level 4 of this building - same as our district to make it simple - we all sit down near the TV-screen to look at the tribute parade rerun to watch. I sit down next to Typher and he takes my hand again and squeezes it lightly, but he doesn't let go, and I don't bother to let it go either.<p>

On the screen the show host, Hewitt Kales, appears and starts talking about how exiting this year is going to be, that there is an exciting mixture of tributes, as if to say there hasn't been any other year then? Then the doors open and I get to see how all the other tributes did, as well as myself. I'm finding myself looking just as ferocious as I thought I did, but what surprises me is that Typher looks even meaner than me, and how he pulled that off I do not know.

When the broadcasting ends Havanna shouts out how good we did, and that we just must get a lot of sponsors because of this, but I think they won't decide just yet, at least not till our scores been decided and broadcasted. When Havanna finally stops going on and on about our performance she sends us straight to bed, telling us we need to be ready for our first training session tomorrow.


	5. Training

It's actually quite hard to sleep here; it is so quiet you just wonder when exactly someone will attack you from behind. But of course there isn't anybody there.

Not yet anyway.

I get up rather early, and I walk out to our living room and sit down in the couch, watching out the windows at the city, wondering what my family is doing at home. If it were an ordinary family I guess they would've stayed inside alone for at least a week, mourning their children, but since my dad's the mayor they can't do that, they have to go out, at least for the broadcast and show themselves for the people. Showing everybody a strong front, like they aren't just as afraid as everyone else for what these games will bring. Pretending they aren't afraid I will die.

I wonder how mother does, and as I begin to think of her and the fact that she probably have been crying since I got picked I start to cry myself. I don't make any noises though; it's only the tears falling down my cheeks that can show that I'm actually crying. I wonder if she'll ever be okay; she's not tough, she just seems to be that so she can get by. I hope my sisters and my brother can take care of her, I know they're strong enough to handle my imminent death, but I hope my death won't be too unbearable to look at. I wish it to be simple; like a sword through my heart or something, nothing drawn out and painful. I hope they won't have to watch me get tortured, the thought of them watching that would probably hurt me more than the torture itself.

As I sit there crying, Typher comes in but he doesn't say anything, he just sits down beside me and take me in his arms, letting me cry, soaking down his shirt. After a while my tears inevitably stop coming, and we go together to get some breakfast. He fills up a plate of food for me and then himself and we sit next to each other eating. It's really nice knowing that there's someone who cares about you, though the fact that it is him that is caring about me only makes it hurt even more, because there's another one who will grieve you once you're dead in a few weeks.

We finish our plates just in time for Havanna to come in and order us to go directly to our rooms, getting dressed for training. Typher walks me to my room before he leaves me, and I really appreciate it, I'm not totally sure I would make my way to the room in the mood I'm now. As I get dressed I realize I must get a grip because I have to focus today if I want to have a chance at all in the arena. If I can't focus I might as well just stand there that first day, waiting for someone to kill me in the first battle.

I go outside my door when I'm finished and I'm not surprised to find Typher there waiting for me. He puts his arms around me and we start walking towards the elevator. We go down to the basement where the trainings are held. It isn't ever near ten yet but everybody is already there so a woman greets us and tells us about all of the different stations we can visit during these days. She also tells us about the rules in training; no fighting with each other is really the only one worth mentioning.

As soon as we're allowed to start training I follow Typher to a station were we learn about how to make a fire. The teacher just seem happy to get some students, and when I look around I see that most other have gone to one of the fighting stations, learning about face to face combat.

I return my focus on the teacher and start learning about which materials one can use and such. Being from a district were water is the most usual element I am not that good at starting fires at all, but after an hour I have improved quite a bit and the teacher seems proud. Of course Typher already knew how to make a fire but he practiced different techniques while I just sucked.

We move on to another station were we get to learn about edible plants, and here it's my turn to shine. Considering my best friend Jade is the apothecary's daughter she's taught me about every available plants effect and whether one can eat them or not, so while Typher seriously struggles to guess weather a plant is edible or not I know how it is with most of the plants, so I just spend my time learning how to find out if a plant I don't recognize is in fact edible. It's very interesting actually, and it could really come in handy while in the arena, but I begin to wonder if I'll have much use for it being dead.

* * *

><p>When we go to lunch I find that most people sit by themselves eating, but I stick to Typher and refuse to be left alone. So we sit alone at a table, chatting on and on about things that has happened to us. I get to learn about his family and his interests, but he didn't mention why he spent all of these years training, so at last I ask him just that.<p>

"Oh, I just thought it might come in handy someday," he answers shortly, and I don't push him, if he don't want to tell me I won't make him. So instead I tell him about my thinking place at the beach, and I tell him about all the wonderful places I found beneath the surface of the ocean.

When we finally stop talking I realize that most people around us are looking at us like we're some sort of pest and I realize talking is not something you should do around these guys and girls. But I don't care, I have too little time left in my life to worry about what they might think about me so I start talking to Typher about school back home and other things, and when lunch is over we continue talking on our way back to training.

We decide to split up so we can work on our weaknesses and such; I find myself walking over to a station where one practices throwing knives. In the training you throw the knives at a figurine of a human, but I think that I could learn this so I might be able to hunt for meat, I would never kill anyone of the other tributes.

The girl from 12 joins me and we talk for a bit while we're training. I get to know her name is Mary and that she's only fifteen years old, and she tells me about her district. They deal with coal, but she tells me that they aren't actually are allowed to start working with it until they've had their eighteenth birthday, much unlike us in 4 that are allowed to help our parents as soon as we're able.

In return I tell her about me and my district, and she seems interested in hearing about it. She really seems like a nice girl. But these are really dangerous thoughts to have, I've already made a friend in Typher, and I can't keep making more friends that are bound to the arena and are probable to die.

Mary leaves rather soon, when she runs out of patience trying to hit the dummies but I stay at this station for several hours just throwing knife after knife, and although I really just suck in the beginning I'm improving all the time and at the end of my session I hit the figurines every time, maybe not in the center but at the very least somewhere over their chests. This means I actually might have a chance killing an animal in the arena, getting myself some food besides plants or fish.

When the time comes to go back to the apartment at five I'm really tired and hungry, but I still manage to wait for Typher so we can walk back together. I wonder what he's been doing since lunch, but I don't ask, I'm too tired to do that. But as it turns out I don't have to, he tells me anyway as soon as we've reached our floor and we have gotten out of the elevator.

"So I tried to learn to set a trap after lunch, and I totally sucked, I managed to capture myself so the teacher had to help me get loose, so I don't think I should try that any more. Then I went back to that edible plants station to go over it again. What did you do?"

"I threw some knives at a dummy. Went a whole lot better than what you just described," I finish with a soft laugh and he joins me. We still giggle when we get to the dinner table and Havanna looks at us till we've finished laughing before she asks us what we've done and learned today. Typher tells her and she seems rather happy about it.

"Good thinking of you, to learn the things you don't already know. Sure beats last year's tributes, they spent all of their time in the fighting sections, no wonder they didn't last that long when they were out of food."

Last year's tributes from District 4 teamed up with 1 and 2 and together they all went on killing sprees, but when there weren't all too many tributes left they decided to leave and only packed a little bit of food and as soon as they didn't have much left they soon died from poisonous berries. I think it was nightlock they tried to eat. A rookie mistake really.

Then we talked about our district throughout the rest of the dinner, Havanna asked a lot about our lives there, and at one point I felt as if she was interviewing us. I then realized she was trying to prepare us for our interviews with Hewitt, and I really started to like her at that point, she seemed like she actually cared about us, that we weren't just any kids that she had to deal with for a weak in order to get famous. I didn't say anything of my realization out loud, but I wondered if Typher had found this out too.


	6. Dreams

Typher has followed me to my room and I invited him in so we could talk a bit, and we lie down on either side of the bed, and I tell him about my theory of Havanna's interviewing practice. Since he really looks surprised I figure he actually hadn't thought of it. I have to laugh at his face because he looks so funny and then he just looks at me with this wondering look so I just start laughing even more.

Thank god Typher has some humor; otherwise he might have gone away when I tell him why I'm laughing. Instead he just smiles at me and start making more funny faces so I begin laughing even more than before. I actually have to beg him to stop when my stomach start hurting.

After a while I start breathing normal again, and we start talking to each other. But as the time goes on I just get more and more tired and after a while I start mumbling out my answers and soon after that I fall asleep.

I dream about being in District 4 again, and there I am hanging out with Typher, we're on the beach and I show him my thinking place. We sit down next to each other but don't say a word, and the air is really tense. When I look over at him he's already looking at me, really seriously, and start lowering his head towards me, and my tummy goes crazy, twitching and turning, and I suddenly realize what's happening and I raise my head and…

When I wake up again Typher is gone, I supposed he left after I fell asleep and that he is in his room now, sleeping soundly. I go into the bathroom and take a long, warm shower while wondering about the dream. What does this mean? Am I interested in him? Am I in love with him? I don't know if I am, but if so, these games just got a whole new meaning. If I get in there, it's not just me I will look after, it's also him. After about thirty minutes in the shower I haven't made up my mind about anything, and start to think that maybe that dream was just a dream and nothing else.

* * *

><p>That theory about not knowing what I felt for Typher shatters about ten minutes later when I come to the dining table and find him there smiling at me. Yeah, I do like him, I have probably already fallen for him. This really complicates things; before I only had to think about myself, but now he too is on my priority list and I don't know who of us I want to make it out of the arena the most.<p>

"Hey sleepy head! Had a nice dream?"

"Yeah," I say sheepishly before getting some food and sitting down opposite him at the table. I look at him during our meal, and wonder if anything has changed since last night, but I can't find anything that looks different. Yet again he looks up at me as I stare, and again I look down while my cheeks turn red. He laughs a bit and says to me:

"I thought we got past that point days ago, are you really blushing again? Is this because you fell asleep during our conversation yesterday, cause I got that you were tired already in the elevator back up and found it strange that you managed to stay awake as long as you did."

I seize this opportunity so he won't get that I like him:

"Yeah, I guess I'm just thinking weird right know. Thanks for getting it." I kind of feel like a jerk for lying, but considering my options I do it anyway. As we go off to training I try to act as normal as possible, even though I don't want to do anything else but hug him tight and don't let go.

We walk together to the station where they're teaching about camouflage, and we spend an hour or so just smudging each other's faces with mud and what-not's. We laugh so much about how the other one's looking that we almost fall over, and he actually does after a while and he drags me with him. He falls down on his back and I land on top of him and I still giggle when I ask him if he's okay.

"Yeah," and he looks at me rather funny so yet again I blush. I look down before standing up and starting to pack away the stuff we've used for our little painting session. Typher soon gets up and start helping me and when we're finished he suggests we'll go to a station were you train on doing fishing hooks. You might think this really should be easy to do when you come from a fishing district, but since I'm coming from probably the wealthiest family there I've never even tried to make one. If I ever wanted to go fishing I just took one of dad's old ones, and those times that they broke we just went out and bought another cheap one.

After what seemed like an eternity I finally finished my first hook, and it was merely acceptable, I noticed that Typher had made about fifteen different hooks from just about as many different materials. I just felt the need to sit there and watch as his hands continued with making another hook, this time from a piece of wood with the help of a sharp stone. It was fascinating to see, how he with two so simple materials managed to create something so useful and I had to try again myself.

With the help from both Typher and the instructor I managed to make a hook just like Typher's, but it still took quite a bit of time. With some training I might actually get good doing this. Typher teaches me more ways to make hooks, he really comes alive doing this, and he explains that he loves doing this. He tells me that back home he used to make hooks and sell them on the market, and I'm trying to recall if I ever saw him there but I can't remember.

We follow each other the entire day, and he helps me with my knives, teaching me how to stand and aim correctly and it helps a lot. I teach him more about plants, not just what he can eat and not but also a little bit about their medical use. Only the ones I think he will have some use of though, like the yarrow against fever or an inflammation.

At the different stations we meet other tributes and we talk a bit with them all. We talk to Ginna, the girl from 7, about some of the differences between their district and ours. We find out that the peace keepers there are way harder on them than the ones back in 4 are. Back home we hardly notice them other than on special occasions like during the reaping's, but apparently in 7 they are rather harsh.

We also bump into Chess from 12 at a station where we learn about different illnesses and how to take care of them, and we quiz each other till we get things right. Much thanks to Jade I'm pretty good at this, but so is Chess, and we end out competing against each other to find out who exactly knows more, but when the clock strikes five we haven't been able to determine who's the best yet. As our trio walks to the elevator I tell him about my connections to the apothecary in 4, and then he tells us that he has been working for the healer in their district since he was 10 and has picked up a lot of medical talk.

* * *

><p>As I go to bed for the night I'm extremely tired. All those different stations really achieved to exhaust me, and I soon fall asleep, yet again dreaming about Typher. When I wake up I begin to wonder if I will ever get to sleep normal again.<p>

The upcoming two days pass pretty similar to the ones before; during practice me and Typher try out most different stations where we not only learn new stuff, but also meet a lot of the tributes and talk a little bit with them. Some of them I really want to get to know better, like that girl I met the first day, Mary, or Chess yesterday, but I figure out that it's better to just keep things non-personal, then it won't perhaps feel as terrible in the arena watching everybody get killed.


	7. Scores

I sit next to Typher in the waiting hall and wonder about what talent I should show the game makers. I've really gotten good at throwing knives, but I don't know whether or not to do this in front of them, I mean, they've watched us for days at our training sessions so they know I've gotten better at it, but what else can I really show them? I can't do any of the things I'm good at; I seriously doubt they have a huge pool for me to swim or fish in, and I don't know if they have something from the edible plants station so I can show my knowledge about that.

I guess I could ask Typher what to show them but I can see that he's also struggling with something, so I decide to figure this out on my own. I don't have much time left to decide though, the girl from District 3 is in now, and then its Typher's turn and then mine.

Several minutes pass and then they call for Typher, I tell him good luck and squeeze his hand, and then I let him go away with a smile on his face. When he's left I start to panic a bit, I have no clue whatsoever about what to show the game makers.

When they finally call my name I decide to throw the damned knives, I can't really figure out anything else to do, so I stand there for about fifteen minutes throwing knife after knife in the dummy about fifteen yards away, hitting almost every time, and I can see how bored they get after a while, before they finally send me away.

Up at our floor they ask me how I did and I answer truthfully – I sucked. I tell them how I couldn't figure out anything to do so I just threw some knives at the dummy. The worst part is that they seem to pity me for it too, as if that will help me right now.

Typher tells me that he did all of the things he learned during practice back home; shooting with a bow and arrow, some martial arts, his skill with a sword and so on. I don't even get how he managed to do all of that in that short period of time, but I'm sure he will get high scores tonight though when Hewitt will announce them to the entire Panem. I on the other hand should be lucky if I got a five.

On the other hand, if I got low points the other one's might just count me out during the first battle, killing the one's that counts as bigger competition, thinking that I am going to kill myself sooner or later. But I can't really count on that either.

Soon enough though the evening comes, and with that the program where Hewitt will reveal our scores. It's not all that surprising to find that the one's from 1 and 2 all get nines, it's expected really, or that Typher manages to collect a ten, but it's a huge surprise when we find out I scored a seven. It's awfully strange considering both my size and the fact that I'm as dangerous as a rabbit, but I won't complain, I'm celebrating actually. This means they think I will have a chance to win this, I'll admit, it's a small chance but nevertheless, it's a chance.


	8. Interviews

After a great night's sleep Havanna is going to teach both me and Typher how to act during our interviews later this evening. We both find out it's not as easy as it sounds to get interviewed; we have to make up our minds about what to show the audience. Are we going to be flirty, funny, dangerous, casual or something completely different?

Deciding how Typher is going to act is done rather quickly though; it's quite hard for him to come off as dangerous with those huge dimples of his, so we think he should go for a flirty stile; tell jokes, smile a lot, well, just be his charming self.

After several hours of trying to figure my strategy out, we realize that the best thing I can do is act like me, mostly because I otherwise sound utterly fake, but also because I'm _likable_. Whatever that means.

* * *

><p>"You look beautiful!" Havanna burst out when I walk up to her and Typher after Ember's dressed me for our interviews. Her outburst just forces me to smile, it's no way to hold it back, she's just so sweet and I can tell she's utterly honest by her eyes. And I know it's true, I do look kinda beautiful, more so than I've ever done before. Ember gave me a wonderful light blue dress to wear, with lots of toll so it looks like I'm part of the sea. My hair and make-up only adds to that impression.<p>

Typher too looks amazing; he's wearing a black suit and he looks so handsome I almost want to cry because this will probably be the only time I'll see him like this. I really want to kiss him, but I hold back, and I settle with taking his hand and start to pull him towards the elevator were the others are waiting for us.

We go down to the floor were the interviews are held, and then we just wait. I see the other boys and girls around the room, and they all look their very best, just like me and Typher. Some of the girl's outfits are rather unflattering though, it seems like the stylists wanted to make them look sexy, but together with their nervous facial expressions it just looks sad.

When the national anthem begins to play we all line up to get ready to go out on stage. We're all going to get three minutes each to be interviewed, so it won't be too long until it is my turn, but I'm kind of glad about that though; it will be nice just getting it over with.

I listen to Hewitt greeting everybody to tonight's interviews, where they will finally get to meet us, the _real_ us. That just sounds so hypocritical when they know we all have strategies on how to act for tonight to get as much sponsors as possible. But then again, this is a TV-show when it comes down to it. He calls for us and we all walk up on that stage, waving and smiling at the huge crowd up there, and goes to sit down furthest back on the stage where twenty-four chairs are waiting for us. Throughout all of this the crowd is clapping like fools, screaming and shouting our names at the top of their lungs and it just feels so stupid being here.

"Now, let me introduce you to Jewel!" Hewitt continues and Jewel literally skips up on the stage and over to him, waving at the massive crowd with a huge smile I just know is fake.

I watch as both Jewel and Jasper shine through their appearances, how Elektra and Grim makes my entire spine to shiver with their ruthlessness and how District 3 tributes show off their intellect. I didn't really think about it till now, but those two really are smart; it's obvious their district deals with electronics and new inventions with the way they formulate their speech. District 3 really is a proper brain camp, and these two proves it all over again with their clever comebacks at Hewitt's questions.

When the male tribute from 3 is done it is finally my turn, and Hewitt calls me up:

"And now ladies and gentlemen, it is time to welcome up the lovely girl from District 4. Here's Mariana!" And as he says my name the entire audience starts shouting and screaming my name. I take a deep breath and step out on the stage. I am almost immediately blinded by a light shining straight at my face but I don't show it off and smile towards where I know the audience is, and I hear that I thought right when the people there scream even louder.

Luckily, the light travels away from my face and I can see again and I quickly walk up to Hewitt before it decides to come back. He takes my right hand and lifts it up in the air so I automatically turn towards the audience again with more cheers as a respond. After a few seconds we sit down in the soft chairs and begin our conversation.

"Welcome to the Capitol Mariana, I hope you enjoy it here?" he starts.

"Yeah, this place is really unbelievable; I can't believe I'm really here!" I sound like a rambling fool.

"That's nice to hear, but tell me, what do you think about the competition this year?" Ah crap, what am I supposed to answer to this? Yeah, they all seem able to kill me?

"Oh, they all are very nice girls and boys, and I'm sure they all will put up a good fight in there. I don't want to count any of them out before hand." I smile and the crowd starts to cheer again, they seem very easy to entertain. It's hard to hear Hewitt when he says something while they all scream.

"I know exactly what you're saying," the audience settles and he continues. "I wouldn't count them out either." He lets there be a small pause before he speaks again. "Now, will you please tell me about your family back home? How did they take it when you got reaped?" Why does he have to ask me all of the hard questions?

"Oh, I don't think they took it all too bad. I know my parents are very sad about me ending up here, but I can't really complain about it." If I should tell the truth, this is no lie, I can't complain about coming here. This last week has been the very best week of my life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, even if that means that I'm going to die soon. "I think that they will get over it." And just in case they're watching (and I know they are), I add: "Especially since I'm planning on coming back." I let out a huge smile and start laughing when Hewitt makes this funny ooing sound and the spectators goes totally crazy from my words. Maybe I'm not too awful doing this.

"Gotta love a girl with confidence, am I right?!" Hewitt asks the audience and is responded with even more shouting.

"Okay, okay I have only one more question for you Mariana." Oh god, I truly thought I would be able to end this thing on a good basis. "What do you want to say to all those people back home?" Oh, thank you for asking this! I can actually say something about this.

"I just want to tell them I love them, and miss them like crazy, and I hope they miss me just as much." I smile blithely towards one of the cameras when I'm saying this, and then Hewitt takes my hand and kiss it lightly before raising it once more towards the sky and shouting out my name.

"Mariana!" I wave at all of the people as I walk away back to my chair and lean back a bit, preparing to watch Typher going up there.

He really does well, he makes the crowd laugh from his jokes, and at sometimes even I have to giggle at them. He really doesn't have any troubles coming off as a charming rascal that no mother in their right mind would allow their daughters to see. My mother certainly wouldn't. Then suddenly Hewitt makes me stop giggling in a heartbeat.

"So Typher, is there any girl back home?" Oh no! I really don't want to hear this, whatever the answer proves to be I will probably start crying, either from relief or from utter sorrow.

"Yeah, well there is this girl I'm in love with. I won't tell you her name though, some secrets you keep to yourself," he laughs as he nudges Hewitt's shoulder with his fist and they both laugh together before Typher is allowed to go away. I knew it, pain strikes my entire body and I have to bring forth all of the will power I own to keep calm, and somehow I don't start crying. I'm really proud of myself for this, and I hope none of the cameras managed to capture any signs of my feelings on tape.

When he reaches us I congratulate him with a small squeeze on his hand and a really fake smile, but I almost certainly seem pretty stiff because I still try to cope with what I just heard. I turn my eyes to the interviews before me, but my focus never turns away from the horrible news I just heard. How could I ever have been so deluded?


	9. Good Luck

I couldn't sleep at all through the whole fallowing night; I cried for several hours in my bed until there simply wouldn't come any more tears. I kept hearing Typher's words over and over again: "There is this girl I'm in love with." Oh, how it hurts to think about! How could I have been so stupid? Of course he has somebody back home, just look at him! Nicest guy in the world and then on top of that he looks like a god, which girl wouldn't want him?

The worst part though is the fact that I still want to keep him safe, that even though he's in love with somebody else I just want to keep him from any danger tomorrow, just make sure that he is the one that will be allowed to get back from the games. Yeah, I can admit it now to myself, I love him so much that I'd rather see him alive than me, even if he managed to hurt me more than anybody before ever did or ever will.

I have even begun questioning my own 'no killing policy'. I mean, I still hate the fact of killing twenty-three kids just to get famous and rich, but the thought of watching Typher die, just because I wouldn't try hurting the other one's instead... it just breaks my heart. I don't think I would try to kill anybody just to save my own skin, but to save his, I would do anything.

Why did I have to fall for him? What good can it possibly do me? I kept thinking like this throughout the night, and didn't stop until I heared footsteps outside my door, then I just closed my eyelids shut and pretended to be asleep, just in time for somebody to open my door.

"Mariana, it is time to wake up," I hear Havanna say as she walks in. I pretend to wake up and rub my eyes before I look at her. She continues: "Breakfast in five minutes downstairs. Hurry up!" and then she walks out again.

I get up and feel the cool air towards my warm body and I hurry to find something warm to wear. I settle with a thick cotton shirt and a pair of jeans and then head on down, dreading to see Typher again.

But there he sits, dreamy as ever, and as usual he smiles at me and could a heart break for less? I sit down next to him with my breakfast and start to eat. None of us talk much, the tension over what is about to happen in a few hours is daunting, and after a few tries from Havanna's side to break it even she gives up and focuses on her meal.

The time rushes past all too quick and we have to leave. Before leaving the apartment though I take one more look at it, burning the image to my mind, knowing I will never return here again. It's sad really; it holds so many memories. I will remember all of the moments we shared in these rooms for the rest of my life, however short that time might turn out to be.

We go up to the roof where Havanna says her goodbyes - she can't follow us any further than this, and we hug her tight and I whisper a small goodbye to her, it's all I can manage, and I rub away a tear that's falls down her cheek, and then we walk away from her, up to the hovercraft that is waiting to take us to the arena.

* * *

><p>I've been given the clothes we all are going to wear in the arena. It's a black, thick wool shirt and a dark brown vest on top of that which have at least six small pockets. With this we're given a pair of brown pants that are surprisingly warm but cooling at the same time. I don't really know how the pants work but Havanna seems to know exactly how they do. For once she's rather silent, and there's not that much for her to do since we don't need either make-up or hair styles in there, so we just sit right next to each other and wait. And we wait, and we wait.<p>

When the alarm suddenly reveals it's time to go she faces me and give me a quick hug before practically shoving me into a glass tube that will take me up to the surface. When the glass shuts around me I mimic out: "Goodbye."


	10. It's Started

60 seconds, I have to wait sixty seconds before I can leave my plate. This is all I think about when I travel up through the layers of dirt. 60 seconds.

I see sky above me and I know I'm close to the surface, and then I'm up. I look around and notice that we're standing on one side of a small island, and on the other lies the cornucopia, waiting for us with all its goodies. When I look past it though, I can see nothing but water. Behind me there is more water too, but beyond it I find a huge forest, spreading so far across I can't see the ends of it, and I know that's where I'll go to get away from here. I, who am used to the sea and it's width don't think this lake is that huge with its mere 300 meters between this island and the forest, but I can see that some of the others look fairly scared of it and I realize that most here can't swim. Although it's a huge advantage for me, I really feel sorry for them; because this means that they surely will die either from the water or from one of the tributes in a matter of minutes.

I look for Typher, and soon I see him standing about seven platforms away on my right. He looks at me and smiles reassuringly like everything's going to be okay, and then he points toward the cornucopia, probably telling me to focus on the games for now.

I look towards the cornucopia and try to see if there is something I might have good use of. The game makers usually do so all the greatest stuff is centered within the cornucopia, but they spread out other stuff all over the space between it and us. Just about five feet ahead of me is a small thermos that one could keep water in, and about ten feet from it lies a tiny first aid kit. I decide to go for these things and also for a small bag only about thirty feet from where I'm standing, and it's in good time, our minute is almost up.

I get ready for my spurt on the platform, careful not to get any body part even near the edge of it and watch as the timer ticks down: seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… The Games have officially started.

I start to run and grab both the thermos and the first aid kit on my sprint toward the bag. I don't have any idea where any of the other tributes are but I hope that they aren't after me. I grab the bag and open it so I can put in the other stuff I got in there at the same time as I turn around to see where everybody else is. I see how the girl from 2 stabs one of the younger boys in the gut several times before he falls down on the ground. I almost panic from watching this act of murder, but somehow manage to focus again and look around once more at the surroundings around me. I see Typher on the other side of the island; he's grabbing a huge backpack that seems to be loaded with stuff and since I don't see anybody near him I decide to focus on getting out of here. Thank goodness nobody is even close to me so I close up the bag again and throw it over my back and head straight back to the water. I splash a lot of it around me as I run at full speed right into it but it's soon deep enough for me to start swimming, so I do.

Even with the bag it's not difficult to swim in the lake. There are not any waves to talk about and it's not cold either. If I were back home I could stay in here for hours, but considering where I am that would probably be one of the most stupid things I could do right now.

Soon I reach the beach on the other side and I look back to see if there is anybody following me. I can see how Typher is merely 200 meters away so I decide to wait for him. I can see that there are still some people fighting on the island, and I see several dead bodies lying there, but I quickly turn my focus away because it hurts too much to see all those kids who seemed so nice just lying there. I look at the lake and I see that there is still quite a huge bunch of kids who are swimming towards the shore. I see that at least the girl from 3 and the boy from 10 still are alive and well, and I wish that Typher would hurry up. When I look towards him once more I understand though why it's taking him quite a bit of time to swim. He's carrying two massive backpacks, and he's holding several weapons in one of his hands. I let go of the bag I have and dive back in to help him.

When I reach him he gives me one of the backpacks and together we are soon back at the beach where I stood. I give him a moment to catch his breath while I take one of the larger backpacks on my back and look at the forest. It looks fairly similar to the one back home, filled with the usual spruce and a huge variation of leaf trees like birches. I bet I can find a lot of things to eat in this arena.

I bend down and pick up the smaller bag again to carry, but Typher refuses this though and grabs it from me and takes it himself. I have to smile at him; it wouldn't be him if he didn't try to help me with this, and after all we are both still alive and kicking so I let him carry it, at least for a while.

We run towards the forest and run deep into it. I try to see what kind of plants grow here, but we're going so fast I only recognize a few but it still reassures me that we will have food to eat later on.

We jog on for a while but we both have to rest eventually, so we sit down and go through the three backpacks of ours to see if there's anything we might not need. We begin with my small bag and in there lies a pack of dried meat, some crackers, a canteen of water (which we drink immediately), a small rope and a box of matches, of course we still have the thermos and the first aid kit. In Typher's bags though we get so much more: Two black sleeping bags, about 50 meters of rope, a package with ten small knives which he hands to me, matches but also some flint, a bottle of iodine, a whole lot of dried meat and fruits, water cans and also a medicine specifically for fever. Then he also carried some weapons in his hand; some spears, a sword and a huge knife.

We pack everything we need up in the two bigger backpacks and leave my small bag with my empty canteen and the small rope, we really won't have any use of it anyway, and then we walk deeper into the forest, but we don't make it all that far before we hear a cannon go off. We stop and I go over to Typher who hold me close while another twelve cannons go off. Thirteen cannons, thirteen dead. Just in the first battle. I wonder who it is that's lying on that beach, lifeless, and waiting for the hovers to come pick their bodies up. I guess we will find that out tonight when their pictures will be shown in the sky.

We start walking again, but it's all so quiet, neither of us makes any attempt of talking. Not only because it all just became so real within this last hour but also so we don't attract anybody near us. We walk for hours but sometimes I bend down and pick up some leaves or some berries and give some to Typher so we'll stay at least moderately fed and have some energy.

Once we reach a small spring of water we decid to stop for the day as it actually begins to get dark. I go and look for something to eat, and as it's spring there should be many things that are ready to get picked. I see a huge spruce and I walk towards it when I figure out what's for dinner. I pick a lot of its fresh new shoots that are light green compared to the old needles. These shoots are filled with vitamin C and are very healthy to eat.

I also find some blueberries that I pick, but I find it a bit weird that they are grown this early in the summer since they back home aren't ready till at the very least august, so I taste a few of them and if I feel bad when I get back I won't serve them.

I find Typher has made a hideout under some bushes when I get back, and I look at it before we eat. From the inside of it you can still see a lot of what is going on through all of the branches, but from the outside you really have to know what to look for if you should spot anybody there. It will be quite safe sleeping there, especially since it will be dark.

He also constructed a small hook with which he managed to catch a small fish from the spring which he had cooked over a small fire nearby.

I serve up the spruce and the blueberries, and Typher serves up his fish. With this we drink plenty of water, which Typher has made safe with the iodine to drink. It might not be as tasty as the meals in the Capitol, but it sure beats the feeling of hunger, so we eat until we are full.

After our meal I force Typher to teach me more about hooks, and he happily does. He gives me a thorn from a plant nearby and shows me how to turn this seemingly useless piece of plant into a useful hook. I find after it is finished that I quite enjoy making my own hooks, and I wish that I could have been home again, with Typher, and let him teach me even more about it.


	11. The Fallen

Together we hide under some bushes as we watch the pictures of the fallen lit ups the sky. I feel bad watching their portraits up there, but yet I know there's absolutely nothing I could've done to save any of them. The first one's picture is Elektra, the girl from 2 and I'm really surprised to see her picture up there; in the years prior none from 1 or 2 has died in the first battle, but I suppose there's a first for everything.

Then follow pictures of some that are more probable to be up there; the boy from 3, both from 5 and 7, and it hurts when I see that girl Ginna up there, she seemed so wonderful from the little I got to know her. I also see both from 8, and I recognize the face of the boy that I saw Elektra stab on the beach earlier today. It's sad to see, but what did I expect, that she just scratched him? That he would walk it off later? No, but it's still hurts, he was so young, only about thirteen or fourteen, he had so much left to experience, and I didn't even bother to learn his name. And now there is no chance for that either.

I turn my focus back to the sky just in time to see the boy from 12 up there.

Tears start streaming down my cheeks when I realize that that young boy Chess has died today, he really was a great kid, so clever and nice, and he was so young. I remember our competition during training, and I wish he would still be alive; he could have been a great companion.

I ask Typher who was up there after him from 8 and he looks at me with a wondering face before answering:

"The boy from 10, both from 11 and Chess, from 12. I take it you lost yourself a bit, no?"

"Yeah," and I snuggle down even further down in my sleeping bag. We don't talk anymore, I don't because I think about all those kids that died today, and I guess it's the same with Typher, but it's nice just knowing that he's there, still alive.

It's hard to fall asleep, knowing that any minute someone can come along and find us, and then kill us both before any of us even know they're there. Eventually I fall asleep though, but my dreams torture me throughout the night.

I see images of that boy from 8 being killed again and again, and I see pictures of myself being chased by Jasper, his hand raised high, holding a huge dagger. I run around in the forest, screaming for Typher, but he never comes. I fall over a fallen branch and I hear Jasper coming close and I turn around, facing him from the ground, and I see how his hand lowers and I can almost feel the pain the dagger is about to make…

I wake up and look around frantic; thinking that Jasper's there hiding, that he's going to kill me, but of course there isn't anybody there. The sun has come out though, but it's rather low still, revealing that it's still early morning, so I lie back down and enjoy looking at Typher while he sleeps. This is surely the only time I will get to watch him so peaceful again, and I savor every moment of it, not able to wake him up so we can get further away from the others here in the arena.

Eventually he wakes up though, but I make it to turn my eyes away from him before he opens his own, and I doubt he will ever know I've watched him for hours. Like a little creep.

The crowd around Panem probably knows it though, but I can't care less whether or not they know. I guess they could tell Typher about all of my doings while he's been sleeping if he makes it back, but by – and if – that time comes, I will already be dead and won't suffer from it.


	12. Injury

By noon I supposed we had walked around eight miles, and we had neither seen nor heard anything that would reveal to be another tribute nearby, so we felt remotely safe when we decided to take a break and eat something before we continued. And just like the day before I walk a bit away from our "camp" to try to find something to eat, only this time I also bring some of those knives Typher handed me, so that I might be able to bring back some fresh meat. I try to walk slowly and to be quiet as I walk in the forest. I've heard that's how you do when you hunt, and I'm actually rewarded with a squirrel that surprisingly jumps out on a branch not even ten feet away. I take up one of the knives and aims, and when I throw it I actually hit the squirrel. When I walk up to it I see that it isn't dead though, but I've killed so many fishes in my days so I grab a hold of myself and strike the squirrel with a second knife, removing it from any pain it might have experienced from the first cut.

When I finally decide to go back to Typher and our camp I'm not only carrying my squirrel but also some edible nuts I found and some clovers that we can make into a nice salad.

Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my right ankle and I scream from the sudden pain. I drop everything I'm holding and fall on the ground, and quickly look around to see who caused the pain but there is nobody to be seen. I look down at my ankle and see that I've been caught in a snare made with barb wire – no wonder it hurt like hell. Who the heck has put up a snare here? And where are they now?

I start trying to get myself loose from the snare before anybody who has heard my screams come here, but it's impossible to get off. Luckily Typher heard my shrieks and comes running towards me. When he sees me he starts crying as he bends down to get my foot loose and I sit there like a fool. Why is he crying I wonder, but I don't ask. He takes out one of his knives to cut me loose when he can't get the barb wire off either, and I can see his hands shaking but I don't say anything and let him get the knife between myself and the wire before cutting it off.

He's still crying when he carries me back to our camp since I'm limping rather badly, and when we finally get back I can't take it no more and ask him:

"Why the hell are you crying Typher?!" I suppose I sound very harsh, but I can't help it, this entire experience with the wire has made me utterly cranky. He just looks up at me though, and I look straight into his blue eyes that are still filled to the brink with tears and then I suddenly feel his lips crashing against mine.

Without thinking I reach my hands up to his neck and pull him even closer, pressing my lips even tighter to his, never wanting this to end. I feel one of his hands reaching around my waist while the other one intertwines with my hair. This must be what heaven is like.

Although the kiss goes on for several minutes, or at least it does in my mind, I still want it to have been longer when we finally break away from each other's lips.

Then it hits me; he has a girlfriend! And I just let him kiss me! Even though I love him with all my heart I just can't bare letting him cheat on a girl back home! Oh she must hate me right now! I gotta ask:

"What about your girlfriend?"

He smirks as he looks up at me. "Did I ever say I had one?"

What?

"But – your interview…" is all I can utter. I don't get this; he specifically said he was in love and… He just looks at me as it hits me: he never said he had a girlfriend, only he was in love… But that means…

I kiss him again, and everything feels so right, I'm at peace in this moment, kissing the boy I love, sure that he loves me and nobody else.

"I love you too," I whisper when I lean back again. I smile, and once again lean forward, but this time I only hug him. I lean down on his chest and just soak in this new experience, forgetting everything that's going on around me. But eventually, though, I'm forced to come back to reality, when I hear a quiet thud behind us. Scared that it's another tribute I poke Typher to get his attention and then point in the direction I heard the noise. He gets up and grabs one of his spears before going over to check what it is. Although he's only away from my eyesight for a few seconds I'm close to panicking in fear that he'll get hurt, but he soon comes back with a small container and he has a huge smile on his face when he tells me its medicine from our sponsors.

He sits down by my ankle and carefully folds away the bottom of my pants as well as my socks before he takes one of our water bottles and starts to clean up the cut, and I try not to show how much it hurts, but of course it shows and Typher tells me he's sorry before he continues.

When he's finished we both examine the wound; I'm glad to see that the cut isn't as deep as I feared, that it was just the blood creating an illusion of it. Typher takes out the medicine and carefully stroke it onto the cut. At first it stings a bit, but soon the cool gel only feels good, and I almost feel how the wound starts to heals itself.

I then remember that we were supposed to eat, and that the squirrel and the herbs are still where I got injured, so I ask Typher if he could get them. He goes away only after I've reassured him that I will be fine, that it'll only be a few minutes until he's back, that nothing will happen.

As I sit there, leaning against a birch, thinking about the turn of events in the last few minutes, I hear a cannon go off. It's close, too close and I start to really worry about Typher, so I get up and limp towards the forest where he's supposed to be. All kinds of horrible thoughts go through my head; I imagine thousands of ways that he could've died, and how he's now laying on the ground, dismantled.

I luckily don't get that far until he's in my vision, and he's running towards me with the squirrel in his hand. I stop and wait for him and when he has gotten to me, he takes a few breaths before he tells me:

"The ones from 1 and 2… about half a mile west…" My heart starts to chill, and he continues: "killed… the girl from 12." I feel sad for her, but the thought of the others freaks me out and I only focus on that for now. We walk back to our camp and quickly pack everything up before we leave.

Since we know 1 and 2 are somewhere to the west, we walk to northeast, trying to get as much distance between us as possible, praying they aren't following us. We walk quite slowly though; trying not to put all too much effort on my injured foot, but within an hour we have walked at least a mile.

We decide to eat, but since the others might still be near us we don't dare to light a fire to cook our squirrel, so we just eat some of our dried fruit and meat. I lay down my head on his lap afterwards, while we try to figure out what our next move is going to be. I think we should just keep on walking, but Typher thinks we should hide, at least till my foot will be fine again. It ends up with us compromising: we'll walk till we find a great place to hide or it gets dark.

* * *

><p>As I see the sun starts to descend over the tree tops I feel that I'm growing pretty tired, but I hold on and keep walking. We have walked around two miles since our last stop, and we haven't seen anyone of the other tributes, so we think were out of our immediate danger.<p>

I look around the forest and start to think how lovely it would be to get out of it, but that means being down at the beach, where 1 and 2 probably have set up their camp and that is something I wish to keep away from. The forest is rather similar everywhere; there's trees, stones and bushes everywhere, and it looks the same always.

Just as I think this I see it: not only fifty feet away lies a small clearing, in which I see a low, but steep cliff covered in bushes and trees, and about three feet up this cliff I see a small hole, half hidden by a low bush and I know I've found our next hideout.


	13. Cave

As I squeeze through the small hole I already feel that it's fairly spacious on its inside; my hands can't reach anything that might resemble a wall. When I have gotten in completely Typher gives me a branch that he set on fire before I went in. I hold it up and I see that I thought right; it's very spacious considering the size of the hill. The cave seems to be around fifteen foot long, with a width of about the same, and I can't feel the top of the ceiling.

Typher pushes in our two backpacks before entering himself, and I can see he's very impressed by the caves size. He actually sits down and gives out a sigh, and I go over to him and sit down myself, and with my free hand I turn his face towards mine just to kiss his lips. Considering I'm holding a branch on fire I don't make the kiss all that long, but I'm fairly content when I do draw back, and I smile at him. He smiles back at me and takes my hand and bring it to his mouth and kisses it. He then stands up, still with my hand in his, and waits for me to get up. We walk back to the entrance and go outside.

I notice I'm hungry. If my foot was well, and I hadn't been walking all day, I would have gone out in the woods to find something, but I settle with what we've got. We walk away from our cave so we can light a small fire to cook our squirrel, and we eat it with some dried fruit and some mint leaves I still have in my pocket.

We chat during our meal; I ask him what he usually does back home, apart from his training, school and work.

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing, but I do like to sing," he tells me.

"You do? Please sing me something, please?" I plead, waving a pair of puppy eyes towards him. He laughs and seems to think. I hope this means he'll sing, but he might just think of a way to turn my request down gently. Luckily, he soon starts to sing, and I'm mesmerized by his voice, it's amazing. Not only full of life, but he make me _feel_ the words he's singing. I concentrate on his words.

"_When you look into my eyes,_

_The world becomes a better place_

_And you know that in inside,_

_Love is taking all this space,_

_Baby I love you, and you"_

Oh, my eyes are starting to tear up, this is just so beautiful, and I know he's singing to me, even though he's eyes are closed. I get up and move closer to him and sit down beside him. He lays his arm around my shoulders and I listen to him again.

"_We are basically so high,_

_We are falling down,_

_With a dream of human dreams,_

_Is to be alive_

_We are people holding planets_

_We live human lives_

_We are angels wearing feathers _

_We are crystal white_

_Crystal white"_

My tears has started to fall down my cheeks, but I don't streak them away, I might miss something, this is more important.

"_When you look into my eyes_

_Sun is starting melting down,_

_When you look into my eyes_

_It will never hesitate_

_Baby I love you, and you_

_We are basically so high,_

_We are falling down,_

_With a dream of human dreams,_

_Is to be alive_

_We are people holding planets_

_We live human lives_

_We are angels wearing feathers _

_We are crystal white_

_Crystal white_

_We are basically so high,_

_We are falling down,_

_With a dream of human dreams,_

_Is to be alive_

_We are people holding planets_

_We live human lives_

_We are angels wearing feathers _

_We are crystal white_

_Crystal white"_

Tears are still falling from my eyes when he stops and open his eyes, and he looks down at me. He streaks away some tears with his thumb, and then kiss me on my right cheek, then the other, my nose, and then finally my lips. His kiss tastes of salt, most certainly from my tears, but I love it. I pull away for a mere second just to tell him:

"I love you too." And then I kiss him again, and again and again.

* * *

><p>When I hear the Capitols anthem I sit by the remnants of our fire, braiding a small basket out of some inner bark from a birch. I can use this tomorrow to put berries or herbs in, that way I can collect even more food at one go, and won't have to go away and look for more each time we're about to eat. Typher has also spent some time in the woods, setting up traps for animals so we might get some more fresh meat tomorrow.<p>

I look up to the sky where the Capitols seal is showing, soon they will show the picture of those who've died today. I only know of one though, Mary, the ones that they killed near us just this morning. Soon I see her picture among the stars, she's the only one who has died today, and it hurts. How can it be so that I've spent my entire day with the boy I love while a fifteen-year-old girl got killed not even a mile from where I was? Why didn't I try to stop it?

Typher starts stroking my back; I think he knows I feel guilty about Mary. He at least knows she was the first one I talked to in these games besides him. That kind of sets a mark, at least in me. I'm not really meant to be here, I'm way too soft, too caring.

Typher leads me back towards the cave, and we both go in and lie down in our sleeping bags. We start talking about Mary, about Chess, we talk about all the tributes we know have died in these two days, and we list the ones that are still alive. There are both from 1 and the boy from 2, then there's the girl from 3, both from 6, the girl from 9 and finally there is that huge boy from 10. Apart from us two there are only eight tributes left alive, which mean that we're soon in the final eight, and that's when they interview our families and friends to broadcast. I hope mother will be alright to do that, that she doesn't mourn me too much and can't function like a normal human being.

If I even make it that long, that is.

We then try to shake the horror of what's in store for us by talking about our district, about ourselves, about anything that will clear our thoughts. Late at night, I tell Typher about my dream back at the hotel, and about the next morning when I saw him with new eyes. He then decides to tell me about how he fell for me.


	14. Typher's Story

"For me, it all started about seven years ago. I sat on the beach with my father, helping him with rinsing his new-caught fish. I had been there for about half an hour when some kids almost fell over me. I got mad and turned around to shout at them, but I looked straight into a huge pair of grey eyes that seemed so sorry and I couldn't utter any of the words I wanted to say. I just looked into these grey eyes and the girl that the eyes belonged to when she suddenly giggled and looked away. She picked up a small ball that ley next to me and shouted: 'I'm sorry!' as she ran off towards a group of kids a bit further off."

"That was me," I guess. I'm sad to say that I don't remember that day, I really would like to remember that, the first time I saw Typher. I'd like to know what he looked like when he was a kid.

"Yeah. I found those grey eyes to be so unusual that I couldn't stop thinking about that girl and I kept looking over at them while I continued working. Once my father saw me looking over at you and he started cursing at me for slacking so I didn't dare to look up at you again until the fish was done, but by that time came, you all were gone." He turns silent, shakes his head and giggles a bit before continuing.

"The next day I looked for you at school and I saw you, you were helping a small girl who had scratched her knee, but I also noticed who you were, that you were the mayors daughter, so I didn't dare to go over there and talk to you, being from a less wealthy family and everything…"

"Oh but you should have come over!" I blurt out. I really do wish he would've come and talked to me, we could have had years together, not merely a few days.

"I know now, but at the time being I settled with just watching. So I did, I watched you pretty much every school day for three years. I fell for you more and more each day that passed, I fell for you each time I realized you stood out from the other girls. Then everything changed."

"The games," I conclude. What else could it be?

"Yes. These games could ruin everything my life was built upon, what if I were chosen to go there – well, here – or something even worse, that you… At this point in my life I was fourteen and I knew that I loved you, and I couldn't have you disappearing from my life, so I did the only thing I could so that you would be safe, I started training for the games, just in case you would ever be reaped so I could protect you. I trained every day for this, and sometimes I wondered how I could be doing this, becoming prepared to kill innocent kids, but then I saw you and I always went back to practice even harder. It kind of became an obsession."

I begin to wonder if they will show this to the crowd. Probably not, it isn't appropriate to show two kids complaining about the games or announcing to the entire country that the people in District 4 are allowed to train for this, even though the rules clearly states that it isn't tolerable. He continues:

"And then, not even two weeks ago I started thinking, that this was my very last year being able to get reaped, that maybe all of this training had been for nothing.

But of course, you got reaped and when I saw you up on that stage, in that hideous dress of yours." He smiles at me, and I return his smile, that dress really was awful.

"I knew what I had to do. I volunteered for that little kid Havanna called up and I got up on that stage with you, ready to die for you, without you ever knowing how I felt. My parents were so happy that I finally volunteered. I guess they thought I did all of this for fame, or for the wealth. I wonder what they will say now that they know the truth behind my actions." He thinks for a little bit before he continues. "I don't think they are that happy with me now, but I would do this all over again if I had a choice; there's no place I'd rather be right now than right here, with you."

He leans down and kisses me, and I kiss him back again and again, I don't stop kissing him until I practically fall asleep, but before I do, I feel how Typher kisses my forehead and lie down next to me, still holding me in his arms, and then I'm gone.


	15. A Day At The Cave

The following day my foot has remarkably enough been healed into a somewhat perfect condition again; so I spend my day gathering food from the nearby surroundings, as we had decided to stay here at least one more day were there's something that within reason can be considered an sanctuary, in this place that is positively crawling with danger.

This time though I examine my footsteps much closer so I won't fall in any more traps. Typher also fallow me on my expedition, anxious that I will find more perils in the woods, but I let him, and we chat lowly throughout the day.

Once we have to stop ourselves though; we hear two cannons go off tight together and realize that somebody else has gotten themselves killed. At that point I walk into Typher's arms and stand there for a while until I feel safe again, and then I kiss him thanks before we continue. After this we're a bit more careful and even more hushed with our conversation, preventing anybody from finding us.

When we feel content with our gathering we check up on Typher's traps before we return to our cave. We have good hunting luck; Typher has managed to snare three nice rabbits and a turkey, making sure we'll have food for several days ahead.

* * *

><p>After we have seen Saph and Xaviers faces in the sky at night (the girl from 9 and the boy from 10) we go into the cave and cuddle up together in our sleeping bags. I start to think about how few there are actually left, there are only eight tributes left in the arena. We are soon going to have to face them, and then it hits me: soon either Typher or I is going to be dead in order for the other to survive! In just a few days Typher might be dead…<p>

I quickly turn to him and stare at him, trying to burn the image of him in my head, so that I will never forget him, not even in death. I then lean up to him, place my hands around his neck and kiss him softly, at least at first, but soon I start kissing him with frenzy. I pull his face closer to mine, making sure there's no air whatsoever between our lips.

I let my hands travel from their seat at his neck down over his broad back, let them feel the muscles of his arms, of his stomach. I lean closer to his body, placing my legs on either side of his body, lying tightly on top of him. I can feel how my own body starts to react, how I'm becoming so warm from the feel of his body underneath my touch. I start to tug his shirt when he reaches down and grabs my hands and breaks away from my kisses.

"Mariana… You have to stop…" I look at him when I tell him:

"No. Never." And then I kiss him again, this isn't like all the other kisses I've given him during these last few days, this is more, this is fire. I can feel how our breathing matches as our lips meet, as they part, and then meet again. I bend his lips apart and let my tongue travel into his mouth, meeting his. As our kiss deepens I feel how Typher's grip of my hands lightens, how he lets himself surrender to me and my wishes. I release my hands and let them travel over his upper body again, and this time he lets me do that.

He actually lets his own hands trail up to my face, let them pull my face even closer to his, and he responds my kiss to the extent that I'm about to lose my senses. I reach down his stomach again and start to tug his shirt again, only this time I manage to get it over his head and I'm facing his bare skin. It's nicely bronze colored and smooth to touch, and I feel how every muscle is twitching under my embrace, and all I can think is: I want more…


	16. Meeting

When I once again wake up I feel Typher sleeping heavily besides me, and I look at him with an expression of love. I examine his face, realize how much younger he looks in his sleep, seeing how all the worries from his life has shrunken away, at least for a while, and has left me this stunning young man.

Although I really wish to be able to watch him for hours like this, so peaceful, I know I can't, it's long over do for us to leave the safety this cave has given us, so I lean down on him and kiss him awake. He moans a bit as he wakes up, but as soon as his eyes are opened, he turns silent and just smiles at me, love glowing from his eyes.

"Good morning," he murmurs and pulls me down to kiss me on my lips, and refuses to let me go for a great while. When I finally manage to break loose again I tell him good morning too, and walk out of our cave.

I see the sun hit the tree tops, and how the morning beams streams down through the trees thick branches and hit my face, and I bask in the light. I hear how Typher slowly walks over to me, and I feel him reaching his arms around me, hugging me close to him before kissing my neck. I relish the peace that is this moment right now, and dream that this will last forever, but it is bound to end all too soon. Typher pulls away his face just enough to be able to utter the few words:

"We have to go," and I nod, knowing that he's right.

We walk back to the cave and take our backpacks before we leave this place. As I am about to step out of the clearing I look back at what was my home for two days, and what will forever be mine and Typher's only home together, and I clear away a tear as I look back at Typher; on his way through the trees.

We don't talk much as we walk on, we settle with holding each other's hands, which is a whole lot safer considering that there are six people left in this arena that are prepared to kill us, there's no need to lead their way to us if we can prevent it.

I instead think about those one's that are left. We know that both from 1 are still alive, and that is extremely daunting, they might not be as tall or buff as Typher, but unlike him they are lethal, killing however they please without remorse. They don't strike me to be all that clever though, we might be able to beat them if we play this smart.

Then there's him from 2, Grim, and he seems to be just as deadly as those from 1, but if even possible, more stupid than them. I wonder how long it will be until they will turn their back on each other, until they don't find any more use of their pact. I guess they want to kill one or two of us others before that will happen though, so I go on with my list of tributes alive. There's that girl from 3, and I wouldn't want to count her out at all, cause if somebody in this hellhole turns out to be _clever_ enough to win this, it is her. She certainly isn't one of the strongest ones in this arena, but she sure as hell is one of the smartest; not only has she managed to stay alive so far, but she sure beat everybody at the interviews when it came to just intelligence, she really freaked me out with her clever answers.

Then, besides from me and Typher, there's both from 6. I don't quite fathom how that little twelve-year-old girl has managed to stay alive to this point, but I guess she has teamed up with her district partner and that they're hiding away from us.

I have barely finished this last thought when Typher squeezes my hand, turning my focus on him. He points somewhere in front my eyes and as I squint my eyes I manage to see a person way in front of us. I stare up at Typher and he begs me to be quiet by putting his finger over his mouth and then he lets my hand go and starts to sneak forward towards whoever that's in front of us. I follow him, making sure that I don't give out any noises as I move, and trying to keep myself unseen.

Typher drops his backpack on the ground, with most of his weapons, he just keeps a spear and a sword as he continues, and I follow his example and drop my backpack too. Even though I'm tempted to take one of his weapons that are lying on the ground, I walk on with only my knives for protection, I am anyway better at using them than any of Typher's monstrous weapons.

I stop for a while, just watching how silent Typher is when he's creeping forward, and then I look up to see if I can find out who's in front of us. I do. It is that little girl Sam from 6, I guess I was quite wrong about her forming an alliance with her district partner. But then I realize, what if I am not wrong, what if they saw us first and set a trap for us? I begin to creep after Typher again, anxious to get to his side again.

Before we reach Sam though Typher stopped and I creep up beside him. He points to our left and I look over. There's Peter, also from 6, and he's on his way towards us and Sam. I wonder where he's been, but I don't have to wait that long to find that out.

"Hey Sam, I saw them by the lake, they're sitting there arguing on where to look for us and the others," he says quietly when he gets to her.

"Oh okay, maybe we should go down there and get some more food then while they're away. We're almost out," Sam answers him, also speaking with a low voice. They set off towards the lake but we stay put till we can't neither see nor hear them anymore before we get up. Typher looks over at me and smiles as he says:

"At least now we know what's going on."

"Yeah, so what's our plan then?" I ask him in return.

"I don't know; guess we have to figure that out." Yeah, we do have to figure that out. Should we try to find some of the others and take this in our own hands or should we hide again and wait everything out? I don't know, but I do know I'll fallow Typher whatever he chooses to do, even if that means to fallow him and kill that little girl Sam.

We haven't been able to make any decisions though when we hear a loud scream not even half a mile away, and we realize that it is Sam shouting. With only a quick look at each other we get up and start running towards where we heard the screams. The screams continue as we run and soon a second scream joins in: Peters. As we're drawing near we stop running and walk cautiously, trying to detect what it is that caused the screaming. If it turns out to be the gang from 1 and 2 we truly are in big trouble, but that will probably be the case whatever it is that lies behind this I realize.

Once again we start to creep when we're getting close and can see them quite clearly. I can't however see anybody else there though so I suppose it isn't 'the pack'.

Soon we're near enough to see what's going on and then it's quite clear why they screamed. There is about thirty squirrels attacking Peter, and another twenty biting and eating from the still very much alive and screaming Sam who's lying on the ground not far from Peter. There's not much to do, we don't want to be attacked ourselves, and so we merely lie there, watching, as they're slowly being killed by the squirrel mutants. I hide within Typher's tight embrace, trying to close off what is going on. It's impossible though to make all of the noises go away, they penetrate my ears, letting me know exactly how retched the scene in front of me is. I let the tears run freely down my face and onto Typher's shirt, getting him soaked. It hurts to hear the cries from those two innocent children, I want to save them, I want the mutants to take me instead, but I don't and it hurts to say, but I'd rather keep Typher safe than two strangers, even if they are kids. As we lie there I can hear a cannon go off, but it sounds to be so far away that I know that it isn't anybody near us who has died, that they are struggling for their lives.

Eventually the cries ends, and I and Typher look up at their damaged bodies, and we go up to them and hold their hands as they pass on. As the cannons go off we close their eyes and walk away so they can be picked up by the hover crafts. In silence we walk back to our stuff, and then we continue on, walking close together, holding hands and thinking how thankful we are to be still alive.


End file.
